“To be caught up in healing and healthcare is to be drawn into God’s passion for human flourishing and the family offers a primary context where such flourishing is founded - an agency for restoring hope and recovering community.” (Bishop David Rossdale, IAFN Chair)

These words encapsulate what IAFN’s latest newsletter is all about, sharing stories from around the Anglican Communion of the many supportive ways churches and dioceses are coming alongside families affected by health difficulties and challenges. From pregnancy and birth care through to chaplaincy care for elders, this newsletter contains stories of mental, physical and emotional health, of community action and creative response throughout the varying stages and circumstances of life.

IAFN’s latest newsletter is an encouragement. It tells stories from many different parts of the Communion about work being done to include children and young people in the life of Anglican churches and to assist them in exploring their own faith and spirituality. The common themes are the need to involve the young, listen to them, and celebrate their energy and gifts.

This newsletter starts with the Editorial exploring the theology of the Cross where Christ’s strength is revealed in weakness. So what makes a strong family, strong family relationships and a strong Church? This is an important question when ‘strength’ can so easily mask abuses of power.

The Family - A Reconciling Community (August 2015) continues IAFN’s exploration of the theological basis for the concept of ‘family’ and celebrates the potential of Christ’s reconciling love lived out in family and community settings. It shows how practical expressions of this theology can help to strengthen partnerships between family members and encourage reconciliation where relationships have been broken by stigma, substance abuse, clashes of culture or teenage rebellion.

The International Anglican Family Network (IAFN) and the International Anglican Women's Network (IAWN) have produced a joint newsletter for January 2015. The subject of human trafficking is a key issue for both Networks as Anglican churches and other faith groups rise to the challenge of responding to the reality that every year, thousands of men women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad.

Published to help mark the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women, the IAFN newsletter on the theme of Church Responses to Domestic Abuse shows both the scope and international extent of such abuse within families and the growing efforts now being made by churches and faith organisations to combat it.

Instead of dismissing physical violence and coercive control as a "private matter" or part of a culture, work is being done on the causes of such violence.

Churches can help families to overcome obstacles to birth registration. The stories in this newsletter show how this can be done. Why should churches care about this? Because children who are not registered at birth may not have access to education, health care, and other benefits of citizenship.

In Uganda, Mozambique and Madagascar, successful partnerships between UNICEF and the Mothers' Union have resulted in thousands more children obtaining birth certificates. This not only opens many doors for them but provides a more accurate database of statistics which assists governments and civic authorities in their task of providing vital services.